Donated to History Colorado by Norma Sturges' daughters, Betsy Sturges and Doris Kupko.
Norma Sturges is a nationally regarded fiber artist of the uniquely American craft art of braided rugs. Sturges was born July 22,1923, in La Plata, Maryland. She graduated from Woodbury High School in Woodbury, Connecticut, and Brown University in 1945. During World War II, she contributed to the war effort by working in a munitions factory. She married Edward Blakemore Sturges on April 20,1946 after he returned from the war. They had three children and lived in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Colorado. In 2007, she relocated to Casper, Wyoming.
Sturges taught at Arapahoe Community College and at Quilts in the Attic. She wrote two books about rug braiding and taught her perfected techniques, which build on older rug-making traditions, for decades. Her pieces combine math, geometry and design. She is the author of the rug braiding “bible”, The Braided Rug Book: Creating Your Own American Folk Art, (1995, 2000, 2006). The book includes new patterns, methods of printing patterns and other braiding artists from around the country. The book was also the first rug braiding book to contain step-by-step instructions with color patterns and photographs. To date, the book has sold more than 54,000 copies (2018). In her book she wrote, “I am a great-grandmother, determined to see that we braid the stories of our generations together into rugs that we continue to treasure.” She was one of the founders of the Rocky Mountain Rug Braiders Guild in Colorado, which drew national memberships and helped to keep the rug braiding tradition alive. Sturges was also instrumental in starting the Casper Rug Braiders Guild. Her art has been exhibited at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming, including a retrospective of her work titled, "Step On It: The Rugs of Norma Sturges" that highlighted 30 of her rugs. The exhibit ran from March to April 2013 and was attended by more than 2,500 people. In 2012, she received a mentorship grant from the Wyoming Arts Council’s Folk and Traditional Arts Program to teach advanced braiding techniques. In 2014, she was a recipient of the Wyoming Arts Council Governor’s Arts Award. Sturges' work has appeared Country Home Magazine, Rug Hooking Magazine and the Denver Post. (See Attached Files, "Coloradan Norma Sturges gives an old twist on rugs")
The craft of braiding rugs was born in early 19th century New England as a cost effective alternative to more expensive manufactured rugs. The braided rug tradition, originally made from scraps of wool from old clothing and other fabric remnants, spread throughout the United States during westward expansion in the 19th century. During the 1960s and 1970s, braided rugs popularity waned. Norma Sturges was instrumental in reviving the craft of rug braiding across the country. Sturges is well known for her efforts to revive the craft of rug braiding as both utilitarian object and art form.